


Synchronicity

by Palefire73



Series: Prisoners. The Chronicles of Loki and Erika [19]
Category: Loki - Fandom
Genre: Birth Celebrations, F/M, Loki is Loved, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 19:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11881149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: I am by no means an expert on analytical psychology, but I do dabble a little bit and Jung's theory of Synchronicity is fascinating. Put very simply: it suggests that the coincidence of thinking about something and having an experience which suggests your thoughts caused it can explain some paranormal activity. It is a lot more involved than that of course, and Jung's beliefs about it kept evolving throughout his career.I think it's an interesting concept and it got me wondering if there is such a thing as bringing on an experience just by actively trying to avoid something similar.In this anecdote, Loki is thinking about Erika just before she appears - my blunt attempt at using Synchronicity - but later on, Erika experiences something that is the complete opposite of an experience she was consciously trying to avoid.





	Synchronicity

Birthdays are a funny thing. Considering that they are a reminder of arguably the most important day of someone’s life and surely should be a time of celebration, often they are not and, for many, can be the most depressing day of the year. Although relatively rare, there are those who do not actually know the exact date of their birth, and at the other end of this eclectic spectrum there are others who have more than one day upon which their spark into existence is celebrated.

 

Erika knew exactly the day she had been born and luckily for her it had always been reason for a lavish celebration surrounded by family and friends. Right from a very early age, she had memories of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, friends and neighbours dancing and singing and playing all manner of party games in her honour, and it was a time of year that she had always looked forward to. Although she was not a spoiled child, she was fortunate enough to have been brought up – for the first sixteen years of her life at least – in a family that made sure everyone knew they were loved and valued and it was this attitude that led her to want Loki to feel the same. There was just one small problem: she did not know his true date of birth. Through his own revelations to her, he could have had a choice of day: his creation in the Realm of Chaos as a Spirit bound to Surtr, the day he came into being in the physical worlds, born of Farbauti and Lauffey and taken back to Asgard by Odin, the official day that Frigga had announced him as her own son… or perhaps he had another day he felt was true to his real birth.

 

Since she had found him back in Asgard on that horrible day, Erika realised that they had never once celebrated Loki’s birth even though she had known him for well over a year and her own seventeenth birthday had come and gone in that time. It was not an incredibly long time until her eighteenth birthday would roll around and it made her sad that something so basic as a birth celebration had not been held for him, whether by his own command, by neglect of the Palace Staff, or by the fact that everyone had either thought him dead or had been involved in the invasions and wars Asgard had suffered in recent years. In her young sympathetic mind, Erika decided that Loki would probably not be particularly keen on celebrating any of the dates which were potential candidates; they were all too evocative of potentially painful memories and she did not want to risk anything upsetting the fine balance which The Vision had achieved in the Trickster’s mind. Yet there was no way she was going to keep celebrating her own birth year in year out if Loki could not enjoy the same privilege. She thought about it at great length, choosing this date and that, then discarding them for one reason or another before finally settling for one that felt right.

 

Most of the Asgardian year had some celebration or another going on for various occasions, but there was a bit of a gap between the many different harvest celebrations in the autumn and those held at the Solstice, so Erika chose a day in a week when there had not been much happening either side of it. Hoping that he would not take any kind of offence at what were only very good intentions and that none of it would backfire on her, Erika went about organising a few things which would mean there would be an acknowledgement of Loki having passed another year of existence. She had decided not to call it a birth celebration specifically; rather, the inference would be of him having become wiser and more respected as a person who could be looked to for advice and friendship. Hans and Sarah were invited along, as was the Farrier and his wife and a few of the townsfolk they had become familiar with; a local quartet were booked to provide some music too. It was very difficult to keep it all a secret, of course and on the morning of the day itself, Loki finally confronted her about the shifty behaviour she had been exhibiting for some time.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Are you up to something, Erika?” Loki asked. Twice this morning, he had seen her stuff something into her pocket and then give him a concerned glance when he had entered the kitchen unannounced, and he found it quite suspicious.

“No!” She replied; her voice was a little too cheery and a pink blush appeared on her cheeks clearly signifying her guilt, and he frowned slightly. _What was she doing and why was she trying to cover it up?_ He crossed the large room in a few long strides and grabbed her playfully around the waist as she went to go into the pantry.

“Just hold on a moment my dear girl!” He said and snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his embrace. Kissing the soft blonde curls on top of her head, he murmured “I have not had my morning kiss today and I am afraid I simply do not believe you!”

 

Erika turned around in his arms and looked up guiltily with a wry little smile playing on her lips.

“Very well, Loki. You have found me out!” She laughed, “I am planning a surprise for later today and I was trying to think of a way to get you out of the house for a couple of hours while I do what I need to do…” she stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek where it showed just above the short red beard he was sporting. “Good morning, Loki. Please will you go out for a couple of hours while I do some secret things?”

Loki laughed and pulled her into a strong embrace. His merry blue eyes searched hers for a moment and then he dropped his voice to a low and seductive pitch, “Only for a kiss, sweet maiden. I will need something as sweet as the memory of your lips to keep a fire in my veins against the Winter chill.” As he brought them together for a long and delightful kiss, it was not only Loki’s veins that were inflamed; Erika felt her whole body respond to Loki’s touch and she found herself most reluctant to let go, instead moulding her body against his as his hands gripped her waist. As she eventually relinquished her own hold on her handsome God, she noticed his inquisitive expression before he grinned and broke the spell, then went to get his coat and boots on in the small utility room. She knew he had definitely recognised something in her reaction to him, a bolder response than usual, but he had been content merely to see some evidence of her feelings on her face and had not pressed the matter. Yet she had still found herself trying to think of anything apart from all she had arranged, just in case he might spot something in her thoughts. Berating herself for being unfair to the man who had promised not to attempt to read her mind any longer, Erika raised her hand to wave goodbye as Loki left and watched through a small window to see him head towards the stables; he was more than likely going to ensure the horses were comfortable and had clean straw and water. She glanced at the timepiece in the kitchen, it was just in time. Everyone would be arriving in about an hour and she had to get the food she had part prepared the night before into the oven to cook.

 

For the best part of that hour, Erika busied herself getting everything onto baking trays and in large pans to suspend over the fire and then she hurried upstairs to her room. Buying and keeping Loki’s present secret had been very difficult and she had used the excuse of going to town with Sara for wedding supplies on more than one occasion. She took it out now from the very bottom of her wardrobe, where it had been buried under spare bedclothes for a week or so. Another ten minutes of arranging chairs in the kitchen and laying out the table later brought a knocking at the front door and Erika went to open it. Outside stood Sara and Hans and the other guests, and Erika ushered them in out of the cold weather, which was quite blustery today even though the roads were clear of snow at the moment. After quick greetings, she managed to get everyone settled with a welcoming cup of warm spiced cider and a small pile of presents appeared in the middle of the table, brought by all the guests. About quarter of an hour later she heard hooves outside and realised the musicians were arriving; there would be no escaping Loki finding out that people were here now because she would have to take the horses to be stabled, but there was no reason why she could not keep who they were a secret, was there? Loki knew something was being set up already, so she told the musicians to go to set up and then walked the horses down to the stables, where Loki was not entirely unsurprised to see her, having also heard them arrive.

 

“Who do they belong to?” He asked, taking them down to the part of the stables kept for visitor’s horses.

“Some guests,” replied Erika non-committally. She grinned at Loki as he raised an eyebrow at her lack of information, “I cannot tell you. It is part of what I am organising. Now, it is approaching lunchtime. Why don’t you come back to the house and freshen up for lunch? I have made something very nice.” In her mind, she was mentally constructing a wall of stone, hoping against hope that he would not be able to see what she believed were very obvious and persistent thoughts about what she had done.

 

Loki finished making the horses comfortable and came out of the bay, closing the wooden gate behind him. He latched it securely and turned to Erika, cocking his head to one side. “Are you quite sure I am allowed in my own house?!” He asked with a smile.

“Yes of course you are. Only…”  
“Only?”

“Only, would you please use the utility room and go straight upstairs to change? At least avoid the sitting room.” She pulled her thick woollen coat around her and left to go back to the house, where everyone was now in the sitting room she had mentioned. It was another large room, made for receiving guests rather than for daily use, and she had moved all the furniture about so that there would be space for the musicians to play in one corner and for others to come to listen to them and maybe have a dance. Between this room and the kitchen, she had decided there would be plenty of room for people to mingle and to come and go to obtain some food or to listen to the music or talk, just as they did at any other party. She had decorated the room with the dried heads of winter flowers and a few colourful streamers she had managed to find at the market when she had gone there without Loki. Once she had ensured everyone had a drink she went through to the kitchen, just in time to see Loki making his way from the utility room to the bottom of the stairs.

“I am not looking!” He called out as he began to go up, “And I am not inhaling the delicious smells either!” he laughed as he disappeared onto the landing. Erika smiled; hopefully he really would not mind that she had decided the Solstice should be an honorary birth celebration for him. She poured herself a drink and busied herself with last minute arrangement of food onto the large kitchen table, with the help of Sara, who had poked her nose in through the doorway and made sure the coast was clear.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Loki hurriedly peeled off the clothes he had worn to muck out the stables and took a quick hot shower before dressing in what he hoped was appropriate clothing for whatever it was Erika had organised. What she was doing was such a wonderful gesture he did not want to let her down. Of course she had wanted to keep it all a secret, but unfortunately, she had managed to be about as discreet as a bright pink Asgardian Flamingo dancing at noon in a village square whilst banging on a tambourine. Even though he had been banished to the stables, he had heard people arriving and he seen them through the many half-open doors. Faint wafts of cooking food had been tantalising his nostrils for the last couple of hours and the arrival of four horses meant that this could only be a gathering of people. Since he was the one being kept out of the preparations, it did not take much to work out that it must be something she was organising for him; the only thing he could not decide was what the occasion could be. He glanced at himself in the long mirror and straightened the sleeve of his shirt. He had chosen to wear a nicely tailored pair of pale grey trousers which were tucked into a pair of comfortable black Ariats – a type of boot made on Midgard and worn predominantly by ranchers in a country called America. His shirt was a simple one of blue cotton and he wore it fairly casually as it was of an elegant cut: open at the collar. A black leather waistcoat completed the look and he had tamed his thick auburn mane with a strip of black leather.

 

Peering into the mirror, he stroked the red hairs of his new beard thoughtfully; he had decided to try growing one since it was winter and he spent quite a lot of time out of doors in the cold. He was not quite sure what he thought of it, however. It was at that itchy stage where he would normally have shaved it off in irritation, wondering how in Hel’s name Thor and other bearded men could tolerate it. Yet he quite liked how it was making him look and it was not a terrible bushy affair unlike some. It was just enough of a covering and should be easy enough to keep neat and clipped to shape, maybe even cultivate a few warrior braids on the tip of his chin! He grinned, unsure now as to whether Erika would approve.

 

A noise alerted him to someone approaching and he turned just as a small knock came at his door.

“Loki? Are you there?” It was Erika and he smiled.

“Yes, come in if you like, I will not be long.”

 

The door cracked open and Erika’s face appeared as she looked in. When she saw him she could not keep an appreciative look from her face, “You look very handsome! Will you come downstairs to join us?”

 

Loki walked slowly across his large room and joined her at the door, whereupon he placed his hands lightly on her arms and looked at her. “Who is here?” he asked, and looked towards the landing as he heard strains of light music. He looked back at Erika and raised an eyebrow, “What have you arranged that you have kept so secret?”

Erika could not keep her excitement in any longer and it easily overcame any apprehension she may have had about Loki’s reaction to her appointing today as a birth celebration for him. She grabbed one of his arms and said “Oh come and join us Loki! I just had to do it. I have known you for so long now and there is just one thing that we have never marked in all this time. Can you not think what it might be?”

Loki slowly shook his head as nothing immediately came to mind, but he was not able to easily focus on older memories these days, so he was not surprised that he could not answer her question.

“Oh Loki! You exasperate me sometimes! If I did nothing to bring such an occasion into our calendar, then I would be celebrating mine again before we had even thought about yours. Loki, is it not about time we celebrated your birth? Everyone does it. Is it not important? I will be eighteen within a few months and we have never done anything to mark however old _you_ are now. I know you had your official birthday as a Prince, Loki, but I confess I do not know your true date of birth so… I, oh, I hope you do not mind! I simply thought it would be nice now that we have been here a while and have made some new friends, and, oh Loki, please do not be upset! I, I… mphhh!”

 

Loki stared down at Erika as she happily blurted out what she had been arranging for him and a sense of delight quickly grew in him at her consideration. Yet the stream of words tumbling from her pretty mouth rapidly turned from enthusiasm to concern and then almost into panic as she seemed to think she may have upset him or even angered him in some way with her presumptuousness. That she had thought of him enough to want to hold a celebration in his honour like this was a wonderful thing for her to have done and he knew it was mostly down to her youth and her natural desire for people to live a happy and active life, enjoying it as much as they could. He briefly hoped that her sudden change of mood was not related to how he had behaved back in the city, but he was not stupid. He had undergone a lot of “therapy” as The Vision had called it, but Erika had not and he was saddened to see that she was worried about his reaction to all of this. But he was far from annoyed; he was actually overwhelmed that someone had done this for him and he was incredibly happy about it. Before she could go any further and potentially get to the point where she talked herself into unnecessarily cancelling the whole thing in tears, he drew her into his arms and kissed her soundly on the lips.

 

Completely taken by surprise, she offered up no resistance and then quickly and eagerly returned his kiss with her own. All of the stress she had been riding on since she had woken up this morning was suddenly released into a passionate response and it was now Loki who was surprised by the sheer physicality of it. She grasped the back of his neck as she kissed him, her soft lips pressed firmly to his and her tongue seeking out his. Her arm snaked behind his back and pulled him closer, demanding body contact and her breaths came faster, interlaced with small moans; she was on fire! Loki stepped backwards slightly under the force of her advances and his foot hit the door jamb. Then the thick carved wood dug into his shoulder and yet Erika carried on with her fervent kisses, twisting her tongue around his, bruising their lips now and Loki was completely shocked, even though he was quite happy to be a willing victim of this outpouring of love. All too soon, however, he felt arousal stirring in his loins and he knew that this was definitely not an appropriate time. He slowed it all down. He gently pushed at her, lovingly cupped her face and kissed her cheeks and forehead before drawing her into a cuddle where she breathed heavily; her head rested against his chest as he stroked her blonde hair, disentangling the curls which had become somewhat dishevelled.

 

After a few minutes, and as the sound of his rushing heartbeat receded from his ears, Loki became aware of the guests downstairs, who must surely be wondering where they were, and he stroked the young woman’s arm.

“We should perhaps…”

“Yes, we should!” Erika moved away and smiled at him sheepishly with a high blush on her cheeks. “I hope that you will enjoy…”

“Erika, I am honoured and delighted that you have arranged this for me. The Solstice is an important celebration as it is and to make it into a celebration of my birth is a rare gift indeed.” He reached out and stroked one of her reddened cheeks, taking amusement from the heat there and grinned at her, “We had better not disappoint our guests.” He held out an arm and Erika linked it as they walked out to the huge landing, but she stopped and kissed him once more on his bearded cheek.

“I love you Loki,” she whispered and began to descend the stairs as he trailed after her in a bit of a daze.

 

_I love you too, my Erika_

 

Then it was Erika who reached the bottom of the stairs in a bit of a daze, for even though Loki had only quietly responded in his mind, she had heard every word. All morning she had been trying to keep her own thoughts from leaking out and being visible to the Trickster, worrying about giving the game away. Even though the wonderful communication their minds had once shared been torn apart irrevocably back in Asgard. Even though he had promised faithfully that he would never intrude upon her thoughts uninvited and she had not heard his voice there for what seemed like an age.

 

But just now, she had heard his every word: _I love you too, my Erika_. And she had absolutely no idea how.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks - I hope you survived the eclipse intact if you were in the path of totality. For me, the gravitational shifts were extremely productive. I ran 6.5 miles in one of my best times, my son knocked over half a minute off his 2k personal best, my daughter landed a second job, I made an awesome banoffee pie completely from scratch and I wrote this.
> 
> How did it affect you, my dear #Loki fans?  
> Palefire73  
> x


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